Leathercraft Tool

From: paul kitchener <paul@focusedonfood.ca>
Subject: Re: [flasah] Mauls a BAD DESIGN for stamping
To: flasah@yahoogroups.com
Date: Saturday, September 5, 2009, 12:53 PM

 

GB

The use of a maul over a mallet or stamping stick is one of preference but is also based on the facts you supplied.

But.....

The sweet spot exist not only on round surfaces but also flat. A hammer and nail is a perfect example. 

Don't hit the sweet spot and you'll bend the nail or as I found out one summer as a kid hammering skids together 

in a paper mill, send the nail flying across the room. Leather stamps have known to fly from both surfaces - thumbs and work are in danger as well..

If you have played cricket you would know that if you are off the sweet spot by just a fraction that the torque on the handle and therefore your wrists is 

incredible, many times worse than a round bat. That's why you see so many blocks and deflections played instead of them knocking the ball for sixes (home run in cricket}.

I would like to finally add that most people whom I have observed and corrected starting leatherwork in fact use the mallet incorrectly as they would a hammer

and therefore cause potential damage physical damage to their hands and wrists long term..

I was one of those when I started and switched to a maul to correct the problem. I find with the maul I hold it in my  hand closer to the striking surface and use my wrist only. 

I usually agree with you analytical comments but I don't think you quite hit the nail on the head with this one!

Paul

On 5-Sep-09, at 7:07 AM, GB wrote:

Mauls are a bad design in terms of having control over hitting your stamping tools.  They have an incredibly narrow sweet spot. A design aspect for which there is no corresponding offset in advantage EXCEPT that it can be made on a lathe.  A sweet spot is the area on a striking instrument where a slight misapplication of the hit does not affect the outcome enough to matter.  The last two persons who took beautiful wood and their wood lathe changed the design ( made the striking surface on a tangent from the longitudinal axis ) of the mauls to make them even worse than the ones in the Tandy catalog for use on leather stamping tools. They have made mauls which require the entire arm from the shoulder down to move in order to produce a strike 90 degrees from the long axis of the stamping tool...( and that is in addition to the long and NARROW sweet spot.  This is the type of head design used by wood workers ( except many are smart enough to use a square head ) and stone masons... where harder blows and the use of the entire arm is appropriate AND needed.  This is not what you want in a stamping stick...  I have been gathering examples and composing a larger answer to this situation for a while now... since that first maul a couple of months ago... it was beautiful wood and craftsmanship. .. but just not what a leatherworker needs for stamping leather.  This same discussion has a larger sports example... the difference between Baseball and Cricket.... the first is EXCITING because you are using a round ball and a round bat...  the second uses a round ball and a flat bat...  But you DO NOT WANT exciting when you are striking your stamping tools... you want control and ease of use with regards to the ergonomics .... this means that you should only have to use your wrist ....not your entire arm as with this maul design to get a square hit... and not even your entire forearm as  with the traditional mallet...  Most of you know I do not complain about things which I can not offer a better answer for... and this is another example of that..but I am sorry I did not speak up when this first came up...and I have sent emails to some who I know got these designs apologizing for not addressing it as soon as I should have.  My father used the same stamping stick for about 50 years.... until it just fell apart and I made him a new one.. also out of Oak... he had made the first one from some tool handle... with lead weight in the end.... I wrote about it about 1991 in the Leather Craftsman Journal with the two Cardinals on the front.... I don't know which issue....      It is ALL about sweet spot and being kind to your body.  You may make millions of taps on your stamping tools over a lifetime and anything you can to do ease the strain of the repetitive motion should be considered before the damage is done...    Or the other side is having regular 'exciting' stamping experiences but with mishits showing up on your work....  Golf club designers spend millions of dollars trying to widen the sweet spot on their clubs.. How do they do that ?  By placing weights as close to the backside of the striking head AND spread out as far as possible on the club.  This is the same principle incorporated in my father's stamping stick design... and I will gather up the pictures of these various things and post them.  One interesting fact that some of you may have picked up on... is the answer Polar Bear gave to someone in sorta discussing his mauls... he said something like ' an acquired taste'..... so I know he also knows there was a basic problem extant.    Everyone who has a chance to try a maul of any design free should do that.. just as with the Rubyat blades... which I will address  as soon as I get  the time and the irrational bashing has slowed down.      But this weekend I am pruning pine trees.  Gregory B. Moody Daddysrulesleatherc raft at Yahoo Groups DRules999 on youtube soon...  --- On Fri, 9/4/09, jacksons002 <jacksons002@ hawaii.rr. com> wrote: From: jacksons002 <jacksons002@ hawaii.rr. com> Subject: [flasah] Al Stohlman Mauls as carried by Tandy To: flasah@yahoogroups. com Date: Friday, September 4, 2009, 9:02 PM   Hi All . . . There has been much written about MAULS. I don't remember reading whether or not the Al Stohlman mauls were recommended by any of our members. What say you? Stan